Black Moon Shining
by Shadowesque
Summary: Hidden emotions haunt Raven's mind. As she tries to unvail them, she only seems to fall more and more into confusion as if becoming a mere pawn to an inhuman plot.
1. A Vague Introduction

Musa, mihi causas memora.

                        —_Vergil___

Disclaimer: I do not own these characters. I only wish to manipulate them. 

Black Moon Shining

A Vague Introduction

It is said that all roads one takes leads them back home. Some subconscious memory spurs all adolescents at one point in time to return to a path that carries them to where they originated. Perhaps there is something within the human mind that constantly desires a place to belong, where a person can return to knowing always that they will be loved. It is there one finds comfort, it is there one finds love, it is there one finds peace, hope, and joy.

            It is there that Raven found nothing.

            For her, the road that led to home was a road that led to hell. There were memories that she would rather keep buried beneath her spirit, deeper than she even sunk her emotions. She had friends now, she needed no family. Her home lay in the Titan Tower. These things gave her the comfort she needed, the love and the care.

            But her thoughts haunted her. Questions seemed to surface every time she looked within herself. Truly, she wouldn't admit it. To her, these thoughts were the same as any emotion—a weakness. However, no matter how hard she fought it, that feeling was still lurking deep inside of her.

            She wanted her mother so much…


	2. Full Moon Rising

Chapter 1—Full Moon Rising

            _A drop into an endless sea _

Raven fought to control her mind. It was the tool she strained against so desperately. It was a struggle she tried so strenuously to win.

            _Azarath_

            _I am only a Drop_

Here was the world that meant something, here within her own mind. Beneath the cover of shadow and darkness, Raven found her peace. No one could read about it or write about it or define it. This world was hers to have, hers to find.

_            Endless…_

~~~

            "The moon is wondrous, Beastboy!" said Starfire in a light voice. "Please look, I have never seen any moon so bright before. Truly this must be a magical night!" She clasped her hands dreamily to her chest starring out a large window revealing the cold night. The large, orange orb reflected across her green eyes.

            "Mmm…videogames…" mumbled Beastboy almost mechanically. His face was glued to the TV screen as he tried again at another addicting but seemingly useless round of Parrappa the Rappa. 

"Mmm…moon…" He was beginning to drool.

            "Beast boy, can you not hear me?" Starfire said, not once taking her gaze off of the moon. It truly was a spectacular sight. The orb hung close to the horizon dancing off the cityscape. It cast long, spindly shadows across the floor in the living room of Titan Tower. Such a view would have been addicting to anyone. 

            "Perhaps Beastboy is unable to appreciate this spectacular event," said Starfire but without missing a beat of her liveliness. "Maybe Raven could appreciates this…"

            "Mmm…Raven…" Beastboy gargled through drool.

~~~

            _Metrion_

Her thoughts hung in mid air, suspended by intense concentration. She was almost tempted to smile, for this peace was, in essence, perfect. All her life she had been trying to achieve moments like this where she could truly reflect into the inmost depths of her mind.

            _A Drop Into An…_

_            You won't find it_

The words pierced into her shadows causing her to grimace slightly. Almost every time she meditated these were the words that had continued to bore into her subconscious. "I will not lose focus."

            _You look, but I'm not here_

            _Zinthos_

Her fists clenched in determination. She could not lose this thought process, not this time. These moments were too precious to her. They were all she had.

"Zinthos!" she shouted, trying desperately to hold on.

            _You can't…_

_~~~_

            "What a moon…" Robin murmured to himself. He sat alone on the roof of the Titan Tower watching the wind play with the waves that beat against the shore. He liked it here; it was peaceful at times even with the hum of activity rising off of the city. It was colder this night than it had been before which only added to clear the air, making the scene that much more beautiful. 

            The full moon reflected against the bay shooting forth a ribbon of light that danced and bobbed in the waves. It was serene to Robin, almost relaxing. This was peace, he thought, here alone in the dead of night with only his thoughts to accompany him. 

            A sudden gust of wind tossed Robin's hair and sent a shiver down his spine.

            "I wonder if this is how Raven feels…"

~~~

            _Azar__…_

_            You're no drop, Raven…_

Why did these questions and thoughts torment her, and why couldn't she hold them down? Every time they surfaced a chain reaction went off in her mind. Emotions of pain and anger began to bubble up from within the confines of her spirit.

            _You know you're looking for me_

_            I am only a…_

Her mind teetered on the edge of consciousness. The questions were threatening to break a peace she had fought so hard to win.

            _Metrion___

_            Only a drop…_

~~~

            "That should do it," Cyborg said, heaving an unnecessarily large  barbell onto a rack of weights. Sweat beaded on his forehead and pinged against the metallic shell covering his chest. He got up and strode over to a mirror with a prideful gate.

            "I am the man!" he said, flexing his bulbous muscles, already thinking he could see an increase in their bulk. Cyborg took the workout's last drink of water and walked out into the hallway hoping to catch what was left of dinner.

            "Now _that's a moon!" he exclaimed as the brightness of the alien satellite hit Cyborg full glare. It streamed through the panel windows that lined the corridor adding a ghastly light to the scene. He walked along staring intently into the moon, his shadow duplicated perfectly along the wall beside him. _

            Rounding a corner, he turned to see Ravens room, door closed, dark and mysterious. A moonbeam crossed the hallway and lay directly at the foot of her threshold, but dared go no further.

            "What's Raven up to?" 

~~~

            _Stop looking and find me!_

Her brow tightened as her hands continued to flex. She could not hold her concentration any longer. The voices were too strong. Could they be hers? Suddenly, the tone of the questions changed striking a cord deep inside not her mind, but her heart.

            _Raven…_

She recognized this voice. It exploded into her thoughts, echoing in every crevice and recess. It was so familiar. It reminded her of her…

            _Mother?___

_            An endless…_

_            Escape_ _while you still can!_

"Who are you!?" Raven yelled, her mind catapulting out of her meditation. She panted hard breathing through a layer of sweat. Question after question erupted in her head threatening to split her mind into two. It had been so long since she had thought of that word. __

"Mother…" 

~~~

_From the Annuls of Circe _

_The Year of the Three Moons _

_            He is more powerful than I could ever have imagined. Every move he makes, every word his transfigured mind strains to conceive throbs with brilliance. I can feel it in my very being! What miracle of the fates could have led me to him, I know not of, but nonetheless it is my blessing to have finally found the Ultimate One._

_             If only he would cast off what mask of humility he hides behind. This small form cannot be what I feel in my breast he can become. Every day without ceasing, every time I bid him to my will, he states without emotion that he is the weakest among creatures. What will it take to awaken him?_

~~~

            "You done with those papers yet, little man?" Cyborg said squinting against the moonlight. Robin sat at the opposite end of the bench, the other Titans wedged between them. Raven was opposite of the rest of the team, hidden behind a curtain of darkness.

            "I'm getting there," Robin said scribbling furiously. "Who ever heard of 'Eraser-Man' anyway?" Having had their peaceful night disrupted, the Titans had recently defeated another meddling villain with an efficiency that would have made any police force jealous. This evil-doer had been an unimpressive sight, drawing his powers from a seemingly useless rubber appendage that sat on top of his head. In fact, most of the recent villains were just as disappointing. The ruffian had left the Titans with nothing more than a trail of paperwork and a few rubber burns. Now they were forced to wait at the jail again to see another useless villain locked behind bars.

            "I can't believe you made me quit Parrappa the Rappa for this!" Beastboy whined. He sat crammed between Starfire and Cyborg nursing an elbow studded with what looked like blackened pieces of eraser. They were growing impatient, for the night had been long. The light from the full moon seemed to drain energy from the room as it highlighted the sunken eyes of the Titans. It detailed every scratch, every wrinkle of their faces adding to their exhaustion. A sudden crash awoke them from a daydream, and they looked to see a slumbering jail guard sprawled across the floor.

            "Okay, this is ridiculous!" Cyborg said folding his arms across his chest. Robin looked into the eyes of each of his team members.

            "You all can go ahead and get back to the Tower, I'll finish up." The others looked at him in disbelief. "Seriously, I'll meet up with you later." 

            "Are you sure Robin?" Starfire chimed with the remnants of joy that hadn't been stolen by exhaustion. "It is a strange night. Perhaps you could be attacked by more of this rubber!" Beastboy rolled his eyes at her naiveté.

            "I'll be alright, Star. The only thing I have to worry about is that guy behind the little window."

            "Fine with me!" Beastboy proclaimed getting up and strolling towards the exit. The rest, too tired to speak, followed through the door and out into the moonlit night. Robin remained on the bench filling in a countless number of blanks. These forms just seemed to get longer with every villain they dragged into prison.

            "Why do they always make justice complicated," Robin said. He chanced a look upward from his pen and paper, his eyes resting upon a familiar cloaked figure. "Raven? Why didn't you go with the others…?"

            "I feel no desire to enter into that night right now." Her words hung dead in the air and an awkward silence settled into the now vacant room. Robin looked deep into her eyes seeing the reflection of the moon dancing across them. He followed her gaze to look at the glowing orb.

            "Sure is incredible…" Robin murmured attempting to stir up the thickening air. Raven, however, gave no response. She had been becoming increasingly more distant to him, Robin thought. He recalled her actions in the recent battle thinking of what a passive role she had played. She hurled maybe a few objects at the alleged "Eraser-man," but that was it. She had played no vital role in the conflict

            Robin slowly rose from the vacant bench and turned in the clipboard of legal jargon. To his dismay, the attendant only gave the mass of written information a solitary stamp and threw it into a stack piled high with more useless information. He then turned to see Raven still staring intently out the window at the moon. What he would have given to be able to step through the shadows around her and discover what plagued her mind.

            Having gathered her cloak about herself, she accompanied Robin to the door and they stepped out into the night. What they immediately felt was a rush of cold, something that wasn't all together unexpected. But this cold was not the crisp, invigorating chill of past nights. Rather, it was desolate, leaving them feeling empty. Autumn had long crept into the air of the city, but this was different.

            The pair walked down the street in silence. Robin realized his foolish choice of dispatching the Titans beforehand, for now they were left with a rather long walk since the other three had taken the car. They were at the mercy of the moonlight.

            "You want to talk?" Robin asked hopefully.

            "_You may talk all you want," Raven responded cruelly emphasizing the first word. What was she hiding within that unfathomable mind of hers? What could possibly cause raven to hold back in battle, Robin wondered._

            "I mean, it's just that you've been acting very…detached," Robin mumbled. Raven looked dead into his eyes sending a shiver down his back. "Well…you've always been detached. This is just different." Raven's gaze returned to lock dead center on the concrete before her. "Anything you want to tell me about?"

            Robin wasn't even sure he had heard it, but he was almost certain Raven uttered a curt "No" under her breath. And so they continued to travel along in silence tailed by long shadows cast from the moon. This was going to be a long walk. 

~~~

_"Mommy," squeaked a small voice. She spun circles across the floor chasing invisible foes._

_            "Yes, little Raven," cooed her mother. She sat in the pure warmth of the day. Could things really be this peaceful?_

_            "Tell me why you can't walk," said the child seeming to pay little attention to the one she questioned. Her mother furrowed her brow for the question added a sour note to the air even though it came forth from innocence. She had asked that question so many times._

_            "Come here, little Raven," she said holding her arms wide. The child sprinted from her ceaseless play and enfolded into her mother. "People are dangerous, little one. You must trust no one but yourself. Will you promise me that you will trust only yourself?"_

_            "Yes, mommy," the child said through a half giggle. She broke her embrace and ran off through the grass to reengage the shadows._

_            "Trust yourself, Raven…"_      __

~~~

            Robin was worried. Raven had been spending days in her room without once showing her face to the rest of them. It was natural for her to be reclusive, but not to this degree. On top of that, twice he had passed her refuge only to here breaking glass or the thump of thrown objects. Starfire had also noticed that Raven had not been around much, for she continually egged on Robin to look and "see if she is weeping."

            Finally, after he had heard an unusually loud crash from her room, he decided that something must be done. He was, after all, their leader, and social crisis such as these were his duty to resolve. He strode down the corridor feigning courage knowing that a confrontation with Raven could leave him in a very painful predicament. Nonetheless, someone had to talk to her.

            "This is it," Robin said, hand poised over the doorknob. Just as he closed his fingers tight over the cold metal, he heard Cyborg's voice boom down the hallway.

            "Hey! Robin! We got a problem!" He heaved a sigh of relief.

            "I'm coming," he said leaving the room to hang in shadows for a little longer. Raven would have to wait.

~~~

_A Poem for the Lost_

_Oh  moon__, how you hang_

_            Suspended by the strands you hate, _

_            The sharp coils of self-reliance._

_Oh moon, do you not understand? _

_            You are not doomed to circle alone,_

_            You are not bound to forever watch from the empty air._

_Oh moon, but that is all you know._

_            The only light you have ever cared to see_

_            Is the light that you reflect._     

~~~~

            Raven tossed another heavily bound book into the pile on her bead that had been growing steadily. She flipped through another ancient tome quickly, an expression of sheer frustration plastered on her face. The heap of books and accounts that were continuing to grow gave her a feeling of helplessness. She had been ceaselessly searching for any signs that would shed light on the questions and feelings that haunted the pits of her mind. She had been spending days inside her room dwelling on that emotional drug, but its effects were beginning to take their toll, for Raven was loosing control. She had already cracked her wall in several places and knocked down her door twice due to an emotional overreaction.

            But even outside of meditation that presence plagued her, calling her back. It was growing more powerful every minute it seemed, preying on the corners of her mind. How hard she had to fight to not embrace it, for at every turn this feeling pointed towards one thing, one presence—her mother. These feelings seemed to drag with it all the sorrow and life that she had left behind in her own steps in flight. All Raven wanted to do was to reach out and grasp a hold of this maternal emotion and clutch it close to herself, but she no longer could. It would prove fatal to everyone and everything around her as unbridled emotion exploded in a convulsion of telekinetic power.

            Raven forcefully slammed another book closed in frustration. There were no answers there, she knew it, but she had to try. Holding onto her lasts strands of hope, she opened the door to her room and walked out into the hallway she hadn't seen for days. She just needed to clear her mind, that's all. And a strong mug of herbal tea would do just that.

            She walked into the living room/kitchen hybrid to find it beautifully and completely silent. Just the sound of tea pouring into her mug began to give her strength again. She slowly brought the refreshing liquid to her lips preparing for its fulfillment.

            "Hey!" said a voice that undulated in pride and ignorance. The surprise of the greeting caused the mug in Raven's hand to suddenly explode in a flash of telekinesis leaving the contents sprayed over her and her attacker. Beastboy hurried to wipe the scalding liquid off of his face, "Nice to see you too!" he exclaimed grimacing slightly. "Whatever happened to drinking your tea?"

            "I apologize," Raven said embarrassed. She walked over to find a replacement mug. So much for peace.

            "No sweat," the changeling responded. "How was your romantic moonlit walk the other night?" he asked hoping to lighten the atmosphere.

            The cabinet door Raven had her hand on suddenly shattered noisily. She struggled to recompose herself.

            "You okay?" Beastboy asked while grabbing a box of Tofu-O's cereal. Raven decided to forget the mug and drank straight from the thermostat that was on the stove.

            "I'm fine," she said in mid gulp. Beastboy stopped eating and looked at the very strange scene before him. His shadowy female partner stood in the middle of the kitchen, hair matted, hood carelessly thrown off gulping tea from an oversized thermostat. He began to laugh which only in turn caused the thermostat to also explode. 

            The last few nights were causing Raven to loose control of everything.

            "Looks like the fourth of July came early," he said through overt laughter. Boom went the cereal box. But there was something in Ravens gaze as she sat down at the table that caused Beastboy to second guess the humor of the moment. In her eyes wasn't the usual stern emotionless stare. Rather she looked rather miserable. 

            Beastboy transformed himself into a green squirrel and perched on Raven's shoulder. "Hey, something's eating you. Why don't you tell BB all about it." Raven just looked confused.

            "What exactly do squirrels have to do with sympathy?" 

            "I…uh…" he stuttered returning to normal. He turned towards the kitchen to see several hanging knives begin to bend and twist. "Seriously! My good looks don't hurt that much do they?" All he got from her was silence. "Okay, so I'm sorry about the Robin comment. It's obvious you can't hold back your love for him, though I've seen better ways to relieve stress than blowin' stuff up," he uttered sarcastically. Raven stared hard back at him. 

            Beastboy transformed himself this time into a large gerbil, still not an accurate representation of a cuddly animal. "C'mon, talk to me. I can hook you up on a date or something if you want." Raven forced back a smile. His kindness seemed to bring her loosed emotions back into their rightful place. Slowly, a peace settled around her and objects ceased to spontaneously explode. But she hated gerbils.

            So she threw him out the window.

            Beastboy recovered in time to see Robin yelling at them both and calling them into the conference room. In stride of the fearless leader, his shadowy companion swooped out of the room, a restored mug of tea held safely in her hands.

            "Same old Raven…"

~~~

            The five Titans were gathered around a large computer screen. In fact, many wondered why the screen was so huge in the first place. It wasn't the fact that no one could see it, for they stood merely inches from it.

            "Alright, Titans," Robin said very authoritatively. "Cyborg picked up something very strange on a routine scan of the city." He turned around to see the hand of Beastboy raised in the air. "What is it?" His voice rang with frustration.

            "Uh…I was just wondering. Why is the screen so big? My eyes are starting to hurt." He looked from one Titan to another a bit confused.

            "Because bigger is better!" Cyborg exclaimed while flexing his muscles. The room filled with an awkward silence as everyone contemplated Cyborg's deep answer. Raven sipped her tea noisily in irritation.

            "Right…anyway, we picked up this strange energy signal gathering in the subway. It wouldn't normally bother me, but this sign is very similar to that of Thunder and Lightning. Slade could try and capitalize on something like this again."

            On the mention of the word "energy," Raven choked on a half-swallowed gulp of tea. Seconds later, the Titans saw her quickly exit the room in a fluster. They heard a loud "pop" followed by the sounds of shards from a coffee mug clattering on the ground.

            "That was a little…strange," Starfire said looking after her comrade with a worried gaze.

~~~

            _"She is calling for you again." Drops fell from the sky and shattered over the emptiness causing the space around them to resonate with broken dreams._

_            "She is calling, will you not listen?" The voices wrapped through the nebulous space, the voices they heard day in and day out. They cried for a million things, for peace, for pleasure, for pride, for death…_

_            "She cannot open the door, I will not go." The answer came in a surge of emotions. They were memories, painful painful memories._

_            "She may not be able to open the door, but it will be opened nonetheless."_

_He cringed at these words, for he knew them to be true._

            __

~~~

            "This is it," Raven murmured under her breath. The door slammed behind her in a furry. "I've had enough." She tossed books, scrolls, and accounts of her bead to clear the item that she sought the most—her mirror. "I will not loose control."

            The handle was cold in her grip. Knuckles shining white, she clenched it hard in her grasp. It was her last strand of hope, but something held her back. Fear, it seemed, would not let go so easily. But she had little choice. She focused what remnants of thoughts she had left and stared deeply into the mirror

            _Azarath_. 

            The word hit her mind like a bullet. It shattered through the images in her consciousness, through her memories, through her thoughts. But reality fought hard to hold on. The light of day firmly grasped the corners of her vision. "I have no other choice…"

            _Metrion__._

She was getting closer. She could feel that foreign presence like a thorn in her flesh, spilling blood to pollute the pure feelings she had strived so hard to obtain. It broke through a wall she had been building ever since she could make a coherent thought, and from it leaked the emotions that she feared the most. 

            _Trust only yourself…_

_            Zinthos_

The final word had been said; the final emotion had been felt. She would end it here and now. Her mind plunged through darkness like a drop, a lonely drop spiraling through emptiness. There it was! That thought that had been seducing her since that night, since that moon. She reached through the darkness and struggled to pursue it.

            _Raven…why do you follow me?_

It was moving deeper into her, deeper into her mind. It sounded so much like her mother. The voices had the same rhythmic pulse that had calmed her broken heart so many years ago. She rushed passed a history that had been long forgotten, emotions that had been hidden so deep within her. The presence beckoned her farther into herself. She couldn't stop, and continued to spiral into nothing.

            _You know what you will find Raven…_

"What will I find!?" she screamed through the shadows, but it kept sinking. Deeper and deeper she stared through that mirror. She struggled to breathe, the thoughts were suffocating her. But just when her mind seemed on the point of breaking, just when she thought she would finally hit the bottom, the presence stopped. The flashes ceased and the fog slowly cleared. 

            _Raven…_

            Before her stood an enormous oaken door covered with tarnished brass fittings. It stood over forty feet tall dwarfing the cloaked figure that stood beneath its shadow. Never before had images such as these been so vivid beneath Raven's mind.

            _Open it, Raven!_

            The voices seemed to be coming from the other side of the wooden monstrosity. She slowly fitted her hand around the worn metal. Instantly, her thoughts began to scatter. Something else was speaking through the darkness, other voices calling her back to the surface.

            _No! I will not lose you!_

            The voices had lost their comforting familiarity and pierced through Raven. She felt torn between two wills, between two minds. The presence behind the door was growing stronger. It threatened to tear her apart.

            _Call for me, Raven! Open the door!_

They had to be her mother, they had to be. There was no way she had spent so much time searching through her thoughts for nothing. This must be the culmination, the climax, the final steps in a journey she was so tired of.

            "Mother!" 

            The words were torn from her lips. She tightened her grip on knocker and struggled against the weight of the portal. Daylight had not given up, for she felt the darkness around her surge in disapproval. She fought against both powers.

            _ZINTHOS!_

            In a rush of emotion she had never known, Raven heaved with all her strength. At that very moment everything happened. She thought she had felt the door crack open, but as soon as that seal had been breached, every thought and emotion erupted in a furry. 

            And she was lost in the darkness… 


	3. Half Moon Waning

Chapter 2 – Half Moon Waning

_Mother…!_

He opened his eyes only to be greeted by the painful reality of light. Why did it always have to be so strong? 

            He opened his lungs only to be greeted by the sting and stench of foul air. Why did humans always have to breathe it?

            The normal questions one would have asked had they been in this unfortunate soul's position, for that was all he was, they would have asked countless questions, "Where am I, where am I going, how do I get there?" But these bore no weight within his mind. Rather, his first thoughts were that he had forgotten how heavy flesh was. He wasn't used to moving in it and walking was a skill he had to learn all over again. 

            A mother surrounded by two children looked confused as she saw a small teenaged boy spontaneously crumble to the ground amidst an overly baggy coat. 

            "Who is that man mommy," said a childish voice ringing with innocence.

            "Just a nice man who didn't go to school." She hurried to rush them along as if the boy's failure would somehow transpose itself into the children's mind. 

            This was not the world he had seen before. Where was this?

            The now labeled boy-failure struggled to rise to his feet. He looked around himself in the crowded atrium of an underground subway. Crowds, he hated crowds. They were so emotionless, so unmerciful. They were no more than a mirror to his own transfigured being. Strange that fate should choose such a place for his transubstantiation, a place for underground travel. But the one who had summoned him was unspecific. The door had merely been…opened.

            But nonetheless, there he was, a weary traveler, valued to none, but needed by one. He walked through the unresponsive crowd, folding through them, merely a wisp of smoke or shadow, he and passed into the thick dusk. But it was not fresh to him. No, rather, it was quite stagnant.

            Lit by the glare of a half moon, he walked through half shadows.

~~~

_This foolish game_

_            Oh, it's still the same_

_Notes go flying off in the air_

_Don't you believe it's true?_

_Music is all for you_

_It's really all we've got to share_

_Cause rocking and a-rolling_

_It's all just howling at the moon_

~~~

            "Nothing, I see nothing…" Cyborg said into his microphone. His voice was filled with dismay and boredom. They had been searching through the subways after the mysterious energy signal for almost an hour and had found nothing but thick crowds and the stench of the city's underbelly. 

            "Yeah, I'm getting nothing here either," said Robin

            "Nor I," chimed Starfire. Though their outward focus was on the anomaly, inwardly they were all asking the same question--where was Raven? These mysterious disappearances of her were becoming too common. "I hope she is alright," Starfire muttered under her breath.

            Right as Robin was about to round up his teammates to call it quits, Raven appeared in a burst of shadow. Robin looked into her deep-set eyes and detected traces of bewilderment.

            "I am sorry," she said out of breath. Robin scratched his head.

            "Where were…never mind," he said through a sigh. "You haven't missed much. We've been combing these tunnels without a clue. The energy deposit has disappeared altogether from Cyborg's scanners." At least Slade hadn't showed up yet, Robin thought.

            Raven didn't have to hear this from Robin. She already knew it was true, deep inside her, she knew that thing had gone. But she wouldn't admit it, it reminded her too much of what had happened in her mind.

            "Raven, it is good to see you! I had feared were hurt!" Starfire said attempting to give her comrade a hug, but she darted away to avoid the embrace.

            "I am fine, Starfire," she said almost contemptuously. One by one the other Titans showed up pushing their way through the thickening crowd.

            "Man do I hate the subway at this time of night," Cyborg said. He was covered in what looked like molding ketchup.

            "I don't know, dude. It's kinda your color," Beastboy replied laughing. 

            "I'm just ready to get out of here." He looked at Robin expecting an order.

            "You're right. It doesn't look like there's anything down here worth searching for any longer. And I haven't seen any of Slade's minions. Perhaps it was just a mistake."

            "Hey! My instruments make no mistakes. There was definitely something down here," Cyborg defended himself.

            "Maybe, but apparently whatever it was isn't here any longer. Titans, lets move out!" They followed awkwardly as their leader pushed through the crowd. Bit by bit, they made it up the stairs and into the bustling night. It had long grown dark, the last shades of the sun fading behind the oversized skyscrapers. They gathered close together in the light of the half-moon and began their trek to the parked car.

            After another crowded sedan ride, the five made it home wearied by a fruitless search. Inside their hearts each of them knew Raven was hiding something, but were tired of looking for anything so they let her be hoping tomorrow would unveil knew truths.

            Beastboy creaked open the door to the main living room seeing nothing but darkness and moonlight. The half-moon cast an eerie glare on the room making things seem much larger than they were. All together, the room was oppressive. As he held the door open for the other Titans, something flitted across the corner of his eye.

            "What the…" he mumbled.

            "What is it?" Robin asked slightly nervous. They scanned the room afraid of what lurked behind the half-shadows. Then, suddenly, the darkness moved again.

            "Who's there?" Beastboy said moving cautiously forward. "Alright, Raven, if this is another one of your sick jokes…"

            "I have done nothing," she replied, but her answer quivered with uncertainty. Cyborg flicked on the lights restoring the room to its normal feel. The light cloaked the room and uncovered its secrets which made the host of teammates gasp at what they saw. 

            Behind a chair stood a boy covered from head to toe in what looked like a tattered cloak of burlap. The coat formed a hood that hid a view of his face from the Titans. He held in his right hand a withered staff which he leaned heavily on as if his legs were unable to support his own weight. All of what he wore was heavily worn seemingly unwashed and uncared for. He was disheveled and ruined by fate's ill-conceived hand. It had shown this poor boy no mercy.

            He walked forward limping and leaning against the creaking staff. It seemed fit to break, but nonetheless held under his awkward gait. As he strode forward, the light from the room lit what was once wreathed in shadow. To their surprise, on the boys face was an elaborately carved wooden mask with orange eyes that seemed to possess a life of their own. It was in such a high contrast with the rest of what the boy wore.

            "Raven…" came an almost inhuman voice from behind the mask. Raven took two steps backward and clutched her heart as if the strange apparition desired to steal it from her chest. The boy continued to walk forward slowly through the light, each straggling step revealing more wear on his poor frame.

            "Take it easy there, buddy," Cyborg said stepping forward to block the boy's passage. "Why don't you just tell us your name and we can figure this whole thing out."

            "Yeah!" screamed Beastboy, "Don't you know breaking and entering is illegal!?" The boy made no response but continued his zombie-like walk. 

            "I don't want to have to hurt you kid," Cyborg uttered forcefully. "Just hold up a second."

            "Raven…" again came the eerie voice. He would not stop. The closer he came the tighter Raven clutched her chest. A cloud suddenly moved away from the half-moon causing light to erupt on the boy's back. His deathly figure cast a shadow that fell across all five Titans.

            "That's far enough!" Robin said putting forth his hand to meet the shoulder of the oncoming boy. But his hand hit nothing, for the form slipped through his fingers as smoke would slip through a sieve. Robin starred at his hand in amazement and swung the other to again try and halt the anomaly's progression, but again to no avail for the boy was as bodiless as the wind.

            "What are you?" said the leader petrified. Cyborg transformed his hand into the familiar energy pulsating cannon and leveled it at the boy's head.

            "Hold it right their kid, I don't want to do this." The cannon began to whirl with the input of energy, but he continued to slowly move forward. Just as his mask was several inches from the weapon, the boy stopped his march. Tension began to build up as the only sounds heard were those of Cyborg's cannon continuing to build up momentum. Time froze as confrontation became evident. In attempt to subdue the boy without too much trouble, Robin swung his brandished pole wildly at the boy's head.

            The sound of wood against metal broke the tension as battle erupted. The boy leapt backward and countered Robin's attack with a grace that was quite unnatural to ones assumption of the boy's character. Cyborg let fire with his sonic cannon which had no effect on the apparition. It merely glided through his nebulous form. 

            The sounds of melee filled the room as the Titans attempted to take down the menace, but his speed was astounding. The ability to defy the laws of matter seemed to make the boy weightless as he darted around their every attack. Beastboy transformed into a ram and charged toward the boy's back but popped out the other side bewildered. It was as if he had passed through only a blanket of air. 

            "How can we defeat something that we can't even hit?" said Beastboy in dismay. Robin was furiously making attacks at the boy's staff trying to gain an open moment.

            "He hasn't attacked us directly. Keep trying," said their fearless leader. 

            Raven stood against the door still clutching her heart. The appearance of this boy had caused a thousand questions to erupt in her mind. He was unnaturally familiar yet he fit none of the pieces. She slightly had hoped it would have been her mother standing their beneath the shadows, but this sort of appearance made no sense.

            Slowly, anger began to creep into the corners of her thoughts. After countless clanks of the two staffs and hundreds of futile star bolts, she had had enough. Her knuckles tightened as she strode forward from her hiding place. 

            "Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos!" The three words erupted in the air. Suddenly, the boy's staff turned against him changing into black with the mark of telekinesis. Raven raised her hands high and the weathered staff hurtled the boy against the wall pining him helplessly against it. He struggled to release himself, but to no avail. Seeing the battle lost, he hung his head in dismay. 

            The sight touched all the Titans. Before them they had a boy covered with dirt and grime who had been rendered useless. Broken, he hung their now held to the mercy of the Titans. This only made it more apparent to them that no man was this boy's friend.

            "It is alright," Starfire said floating over to him. She held out her arms in attempt to grasp the mask that stuck to his face. Seeing her intentions, the boy writhed in disapproval. "I do not wish to hurt you. Please, hold still." The boy stopped moving against his will and let Starfire grab hold to the edges of the mask. Slowly, she pulled it off of the child and revealed his face to the light.

            It was just as pitiful as the rest of him, the grime streaked across it. His eyes, however, were the most astounding. They were hideously pale and did not hold the light that was characteristic to any human. They clung to his face like lifeless orbs, and looking deep into them, Starfire felt empty.

            Raven edged closer, the sight of the boy's real face only adding to her rage. Her eyes shot forth their white energy as his staff pressed hard against his neck threatening death. He began to choke under its crushing weight

            "Please," came a pitiful, raspy voice. Outside of the mask, his voice was no longer inhuman but rather helpless. 

            "Raven, let him go," Robin said lowering his guard. But she wouldn't stop. A faint red glow began to creep into the corners of her eyes, a look that the Titans remembered with regret. The white pigment of the boy's face began to change as his air was brutally cut off. "Raven!" Robin yelled firmly planting his hand on her shoulder. She suddenly snapped from her trance and the boy plummeted to the ground, cloak, staff, and all. Confused, Raven stared at her hands awkwardly unsure of her past actions. 

            The boy slowly rose from the ground rubbing his neck. He clutched his staff painfully and leaned on it with the same dependence as before. Whatever violent spirit that had seeped forth from him earlier was now instantly gone. He stared intently at Raven as if waiting for an order, but she refused to take her gaze off of her hands.

            "Who…what…are you?" Beastboy managed to say. As if the question had broken his concentration, the boy's pale eyes began to dart wildly back and forth between the Titans. 

            "Let's just start with your name," Robin said. The boy's eyes fixed on the leader as the words slipped from his mouth. Robin took a step back having been exposed to the stare.  

            "She called me…" he mumbled. It seemed to cause him pain to drag words out from within his mind. The sound of his voice catapulted Raven out of her trance and their eyes locked for the first time. No emotions dared cross through the air between them.

            "Kamen…she called me Kamen." The name gave the Titans little comfort.

            "And why the heck did you break into our tower?" Beastboy yelled. His emotion caused Kamen to grimace. 

            "Take it easy, Beastboy, one thing at a time," Robin said raising his hand to check the changeling's anger. The five eagerly waited for the boy to answer.

            "I was summoned," Kamen said after a pause. "She called me here." 

            "Who the heck is this 'she'?" asked Cyborg in frustration. Kamen raised his formless finger to fix itself on Raven. The others looked at her questioningly.

            "I did no such thing," she countered. Deep inside, she knew it was true, but refused to accept it.

            "She…you opened the door," Kamen said letting his arm return to hang lifelessly by his side. Raven heard it, but his words were unable to crack through the barrier of confusion that festered on the surface of her mind. So many things made so little sense. "I must escape" was all she could think. Repeating the phrase over and over again, she began to retreat away from the boy who plagued her mind. That was all she had ever done when she didn't understand her thoughts or emotions—she had run.

~~~

_From the Annuls of Circe_

_The Year of the Three Moons_

_             This is most unfortunate. My adopted son who I have continued to ignore is beginning to suspect my actions with my new project. How I hate him! He disregards my instructions and prefers to embellish himself in worldly pleasures. I do not know why I chose him to fill the emotional gap of maternity, but the fates have put me in this predicament and I must accept it._

_            Truthfully, I am drawing closer to pull forth the true form of the Ultimate One, but my cursed son is nearing the discovery of my purpose for harboring the child. The consequences of this misfortune would prove fatal, for despite my son's lust for pleasure, he is unnaturally powerful. I must have more time if I am to succeed. There must be some other way!_

~~~

            "_Beep! Beep! Beep!"_

            Robin's alarm clock erupted through the air jolting the Titan from a restless sleep. He awoke to sunlight that streamed though his window coating the room with a blinding glare. Struggling to shed the layers of blankets, Robin found his footing awkwardly on the carpet amongst various discarded items of clothing. He always promised himself that he would clean them up in the morning, but this sunrise was never the right sunrise.

            What was today? Thursday maybe? Robin began to cycle through his to-do list as he carelessly followed the morning routine that every teenager was bound to fall into. Stumbling out into the brilliant light, he walked into the kitchen hoping to find some sort of breakfast awaiting him. But to his dismay, he seemed to be the first one awake. He looked at the stove and guessed it would be a good hour or so before Cyborg was awake and another three before Beastboy dared show his face. He opened the fridge knowing there wouldn't be anything worth cooking in there.

            "When was the last time someone went to the grocery store?" he said to himself fumbling through empty cartons of soymilk.

            "We were supposed to go yesterday," came an unexpected voice behind him.  He turned to see Raven sitting on the couch reading a book lit by the sunrise. But what was unusual about the scene is that Kamen stood directly in front of her staring intently into her eyes. He looked as if he were waiting for any sort of response from Raven, but had received none.

            "I won't ask," Robin said opening up a cupboard, which he also found to be empty. Finally discovering a package of outdated cheese, he sat down beside Raven and began his feast.

            "I wouldn't eat that if I were you," she said without taking an eye off of her book.

            "Cheese is mold anyway. What can it hurt?" He bit into what he thought was going to taste like cheese, but found it instead to disintegrate into some sort of power. He threw it to the ground in disgust where it again turned into a pile of yellow dust. Silence began to settle as Kamen continued his staring game with Raven. After a minute, Robin couldn't handle it anymore.

            "OK, this is ridiculous. Aren't you even going to acknowledge him?" Raven still would not lift her gaze.

            "He does not need to be acknowledged." The emotionless words dripped from her mouth and seemed to cause Kamen to flinch slightly. But he also held his eyes fixed on their target.

            "I'm sorry Kamen. She isn't normally like this. She's just…" Robin decided not to finish his sentence knowing the results could be disastrous.

            "It is alright," came his timid voice. "I am merely awaiting her order, for I am bound to this pact since she has made me manifest."  Robin scratched his head missing the meaning of Kamen's words.

            "Then here are my orders," Raven said finally looking up from her book and returning Kamen's stare. "Leave - me - alone." She enunciated the three words clearly and perfectly driving each syllable into Kamen's ears. Disheartened, the boy was compelled to obey and left the room drifting through the air like the wind. As he rounded the corner, Kamen planted his mask firmly on his disheveled face hiding whatever emotion it ventured to convey. 

            "If only you could see the mask you also hide behind, Raven," Robin mumbled to himself as he watched the boy painfully limp away leaning hard against his creaking staff.

~~~

_"She knows."_

_            The voice echoed through the emptiness. The one they addressed could not hear these words, but he could feel them. In his deepest mind, they pulsated through his existence._

_            "Be careful, she knows. She will not admit it, but she knows." How could she know? She always denied everything they tried to send to her. But they were not the ones that had told her…someone else was talking.      _

~~~

            "You talk to him!" Beastboy whispered.

            "Why don't you?" Cyborg replied. They sat crouched behind two chairs with their heads peaking over them. They had originally planned to play a couple of rounds of whatever videogame Beastboy clutched tightly to his chest, but had found an unwelcome visitor sitting on their couch. Kamen's presence seemed to radiate, seeping across the floor around him and stopping right at the feet of the two Titans. They dared go no further.

            "Look, if you say you can really defeat the Level of Darkness, then walking over to that kid will be a breeze," Cyborg mocked. Beastboy ignored his point and looked fearfully into Kamen's back. 

            "Dude, how about you do it, Mr. Muscle for Brains," Beastboy said. "Why does stuff like this always happen whenever I want to play a stinkin' video game?" They assumed Kamen didn't hear a word they said, for he never moved. He didn't even seem to blink. His pale, lifeless eyes just stared at a blank TV screen. Though he appeared to be sitting, it was as though he did not even touch the couch. He just was…separate from it all.

             Starfire wandered around the corner to see two of her friends crouched silently on the ground gaping at the mysterious boy in front of them. "Is there something interesting with the backs of chairs?" she said rather loudly blowing their cover. Beastboy and Cyborg frantically motioned for her to remain silent, but she wouldn't stop. "I do not want to miss something!" Starfire sprinted from the doorway and also began crouching behind a chair acting interested. Somehow she had found away to make as much noise humanly possible while running toward them.

            Unable to ignore the outburst, Kamen looked backward to see the two spies turned out of their hiding places. They stood awkwardly while Starfire remained intently engaged with the back of a chair. 

            "She's hopeless," Beastboy sighed.

            "No kidding," Cyborg added. 

            "Hello Kamen!" Starfire chimed, her mind unable to focus on something for more than a minute. Now it was his turn to act bewildered. She floated over and sat next to him, something that Beastboy and Cyborg had been gathering courage to do for the last half-hour. "How are you? Did you sleep okay on the couch?" The other two Titans followed her and slowly sat avoiding Kamen's eyes.

            "I don't sleep," he mumbled returning his blank stare to the TV screen. 

            "Did you have any interesting dreams?" Starfire asked again.

            "How can he have dreams if he doesn't sleep?" Beastboy said muttering a "hopeless" under his breath. Starfire ignored him.

            "So where are you from, Kamen? Surely you are not an earth-being like my friends?" He brought his mask out from beneath his cloak and looked sadly into the orange eyes. They reflected a life that the ones of his own could not possess.

            "It is hard to say." He paused long enough to notice that Beastboy and Cyborg had already engaged in a video game death match and now existed in a world of their own. He fought back a smile. "I am nothing here in this physical realm. I am merely a shadow. My mask and my staff…they are the only links that exist between our two worlds."

            Starfire looked at him blankly as if not a word from his lips had crossed through her ears. "I do not understand."

            Kamen let out a deep sigh. This was the part he had always hated. "Whatever form of afterlife that you have imagined or heard of would be the best description of where I am from."

            "Hold up," Cyborg said. The last statement had catapulted him from his virtual world. "You're saying your some kind of ghost…or demon?" Kamen smiled at that last word. He had heard it countless times. That was what his other master had always called him.

            "Yes…you could call me a demon."

            "See! I told you he was harder to face than the Level of Darkness," Beastboy said.

            "But you do not possess the same evil as demons. You cannot for I do not feel it in you," Starfire said innocently. Kamen's smile faded from his lips and his face began to harden. 

            "What do you feel in me?" The words hovered between the two as neither one daring to take a breath. Starfire knew the answer to his question but feared speaking it. "I am sorry. I should not have said that."

            "Do not apologize, Kamen. It's just…"

            "No, I understand. You don't have to explain," he said rising from the couch. Even here among such abundant love and joy he was cut off. It was as though he had nothing in common with these physical beings, not even emotions.

Drawing the mask from his burlap coat, he again planted it on his face. It was a wall, a place that he could hide behind. The smell and feel of his mask and staff reminded him of a place where one might say he belonged. Starfire watched him walk into the shadows of the doorway that the light of morning had cast. There was no way she could reach him, no way she could help him. The boy was truly alone.

~~~

_"I love that moon. It always makes me feel like there's something more to life. Something            beautiful." The comment seemed to make her companion uneasy._

_"I hope for nothing when looking at the moon."_

_                                    "Why's that?" He paused looking for an answer in the shadows._

_"It's just so…empty._

~~~

It was raining again. 

            It gathered all the grime and filth that had collected over the days and forced it into the undergrounds of the city. It brought from between the cracks of the concrete all that had been hidden and pushed beneath the surface. It took every empty space of air and every corner that dared to flee from its grasp.

            And it made Starfire's hair a useless mass of uncontrollable chaos.

            "This is most horrible, Raven. Please make it stop!" said the almost carefree alien. She pulled and tugged at her clump of red locks that was continuing to become more and more unkempt.

            "I'm afraid that they haven't figured out how to do that yet on this planet," said Raven hidden beneath the shelter of her cloak. Though she wouldn't admit it, she really enjoyed the rain. It seemed to lighten the air as it dragged the pollution caught up in the breezes to the ground. It was both quite refreshing and quite annoying to have pure water continually splash on her face. With it came a serene feeling much like that of meditation without requiring near the effort. All one had to do was listen to the rhythmic pounding of raindrops. It had been so long since Raven had dared to meditate, not after that night…

            She glanced over to her companion who continued to fight a loosing battle with her hair. No wonder she needed a huge hair dryer.

            "I hope the boys get here soon," Starfire said almost squeaking in a frenzy. They had been in the grocery store for almost an hour now. The girls had left them in a heated debate over whether to get hamburger-helper or some vegetarian microwavable meal. Raven dragged Starfire off the scene when Beastboy transformed himself into a Siberian tiger. Sonic explosions were now ringing in the background. 

            Raven cared little about their food selection. She wouldn't eat it anyway. She did, however, wish that they would hurry.

            "Boys…" she muttered under her breath. There was one other "boy" she had left behind in the store, but she fought hard not to think about him. By her order, Kamen remained behind to watch unseeing as the other three Titans finished off the grocery store. He was what she blamed all her confusion on, that damnable child. Raven knew deep down that the answers all lay with him, but refused to admit it.

Silently and formlessly Kamen limped through the automatic doors of the grocery store. How she hated him, that boy, her plague.

"I thought I ordered you to remain with Robin," Raven hissed. Her words dripped pure venom. Kamen continued to state that it was his duty to protect her, but she did not need his aide. She needed no one's help.

"I could find no use inside this building," said Kamen. His voice was toneless as if ignorant of Raven's contempt. She was tempted to reply that he could find no use anywhere, but held her tongue. There was something different about the boy, something hidden. Though he leaned helplessly on his staff, she could feel a presence within him. Whenever she closed her eyes, this presence seemed to scream at the top of its lungs. Therefore her reason for holding her answer was an unexplainable inner fear, one that only seemed justified by this hidden thing within Kamen.

But this didn't make sense. Little made sense.

After a few more peaceful minutes of raindrops, the rest of the Titans walked wearily through the automatic doors. 

            "Man! It's still raining," Beastboy complained. Starfire looked behind him through the doors to see several toppled isles and disgruntled grocery store personnel, but thought little of it as her primary goal was taming her hair. "Nice hair, Star."

            "Don't tempt her to use her hairdryer!" Cyborg said, but he knew deep down that as soon as they got home he would have to again fix the generator. The five began their trek to their parked car amidst a barrage of raindrops. 

            "Got enough junk there?" Robin said looking at Cyborg. He was holding two bags piled high with various candies and high-cholesterol items. At that moment, he had his head buried in a bag of potato chips. 

            "Seriously, dude! How can you work out so hard and at the same time fill yourself with all that crap?" Beastboy said disgusted.

            "If it's filling," Cyborg countered. 

"How about you, Kamen? Did you get any food that you enjoy?" Starfire asked.

            "I don't eat," he said tonelessly.

            After searching through three floors of the parking garage, the Titans finally found their car. They crammed themselves into the doors surrounded by hundreds of groceries. Ah! The teenage life! It is nothing more than a crowded Honda Accord. 

            Cyborg crunched the gears, cringed, and sped off towards the tower. Raven sat in the backseat surrounded by the smells of half-cooked tofu and secretly longed for their return. The nagging within her seemed to all together silence itself with the arrival of the ghost boy leaving her at a stalemate. Now, rather, the mysterious presence beckoned from the boy himself, which was all together unnatural. As the days grew longer, her patience grew thinner. She clung to the thoughts of her mother, but in vain. The feeling had altogether vanished and with them her concentration.

            "What you thinking about?" said Beastboy. Raven hated that question, but he was only trying to be nice. Just for that instant, though, her thoughts collided. What was she thinking about?

            "If I wasn't thinking it, I would tell you," she said as if programmed. It was the only thing she could say. She was afraid to look into her mind. Instead she stared hopelessly forward trying to resurface memories of her mother as the car sped towards the horizon helpless to stop the coming of the night.

~~~

_"Little Raven? Why will you not come with me?" said her mother standing just outside the door of their house waiting in the chill of the night. But the child had her feet planted defiantly on the wooden floor, a scowl plastered on her tiny face._

_"What makes you not want to come out into this beautiful night?" she pleaded. After a few seconds the child slowly extended her arm, index finger raised pointing out into the night. The mother followed her outstretched arm to aim directly at the glowing moon._

~~~

            __

            That moon, how it glared down on them. Kamen felt so small every time he looked at the satellite. It hung lit halfway by the distant sun casting its half-light across the room. It made him feel so small confirming the helpless emotions within him. What good was he? Nothing it seemed, for no one could ever find him a place to fit into. But that moon. He was becoming drunk with its light knowing nothing around him.

            From behind, the five unpacked groceries talking and joking ignorant of the moon before them. After a thirty minute argument of how Beastboy wouldn't dare put bacon in his refrigerator, peace slowly settled and the Titans began to make plans for the night. But Kamen heard none of them. The moon wouldn't let him go. 

            "What are we going to do about dinner?" Robin asked. He plopped exhausted onto the couch beside Kamen. 

            "I could make something!" Starfire said without hesitation.

            "…or we could order some take-out," Cyborg muttered finishing her sentence.

            "No kidding. My stomach is still howling at me from last night's 'Mustard Surprise,'" Beastboy said. The other four cringed at the mention of those words. "Uh…not that it wasn't good or anything, Starfire…" 

            "Your stomach can howl?" she said confused.  

            "What about you, Raven?" Robin asked quickly changing the subject. 

            "I'll be in my room," she replied blankly. Turning, she walked out of the open kitchen, the shadows devouring her. The moonlight did not dare follow her.

            "Nothing ever changes," Robin sighed. "Take-out it is." The words trailed off into the empty air as the Titans passed their separate ways. But Kamen sat the same watching the moon afraid that it would slip from his sight if he so much as blinked. There were mentions of a movie, but he heard nothing, not even when Beastboy asked him if he wanted to watch _Kung-fu-Japanese-Man Extravaganza_. He did follow them into the TV room, but his eyes couldn't part with the satellite for one second even when a wall cut off his gaze. The moon hung halfway between darkness and light. One wrong move, he felt, would send it plunging into shadow.

            The moonlight intermingled with the light from the television as some movie danced across the screen. Except for Beastboy, no one was really paying attention; it was just something to do. Here was a chance for them to turn their minds off for a while. Slowly, they let go of their consciousness and became shells letting something else be subject to the wrath of time. 

But one of them was missing, one Titan refused to loose control. Instead Kamen sat in her place filling the gap in the couch, but he too wouldn't let go. That moon wouldn't let him go. It called him to a distant memory, but he couldn't take hold of it. Every time he looked into himself, all he could hear was a child's wild screams for her mother. It hurt that the child wouldn't let him understand her.

 "Dude! This is the best part!" Beastboy said temporarily jolting Kamen from his thoughts. He looked up in time to see a huge explosion followed by the victory yell from some horribly dubbed Japanese actor. But as he stared into the glowing screen something called out to him from the pit of his existence. The whole purpose he was walking and breathing didn't make sense, but this feeling did. It was a sensation that something was horribly and dangerously wrong.

He returned his worried gaze to the moon hoping it would consol him but found no reassurance. Rather, it mocked him with its half-light showing only half-truths. He began to shift uncomfortably in his seat drawing the attention of Starfire who mirrored his concerned expression. 

"Is everything all right, Kamen?" she whispered. He did not answer but only stared at the moon in horror. What he saw did not make sense. At first, he thought it was merely his imagination, some trick of his eyes, but time began to reveal the awful truth. The dark side seemed to be growing inch by inch pushing the remaining light into a shrinking crescent. As he watched, he felt something well up inside of him, an unnatural mixture of fear and power. The force of it made him quiver.

"Kamen?" Starfire said trying to place a hand on his arm, but only felt the cold of the couch as she passed through his bodiless form. 

"Everything is wrong," he said turning his eyes to meet hers. She was again struck with the lifelessness in them. They suddenly shut tight as Kamen again felt the emotion burst within him. _Raven, he thought struggling to rise from the couch. Starfire sat motionless as she refused to follow him. Instead she stared at the moon also noticing with horror that it was beginning to grow deathly dark._

"Everything…" he muttered as he limped down the hall. He had to get to Raven. He had to stop her. But what was this feeling? It felt like power, like absolute control, but when it hit, every bone in his body quaked in fear. Again and again the voices rang in his head, _"She knows!"_

Kamen stumbled several times struggling to regain his footing, but purpose drove him to her door. He clutched the knob unable to feel its metallic grip, but again the presence exploded within him causing his insides to twist in pain. The voices told him to stop her, but he feared he couldn't. So many things cried that he was too late.

In a burst of frenzy, Kamen ripped open Raven's door exposing her darkness to the moon's fading light. The stinging pain of hopelessness fought to hold him down, for neither one was in control, neither one understood what was happening. They were puppets in the hands of the Furies. 

Raven sat on her bed soaked in her own tears with her mirror held tight in her hands. That cursed object! Kamen did not understand its meaning, but he understood its danger. However, Raven did not look into the mirror, rather she clung to Kamen's lifeless eyes. In a sudden burst of power, the mirror shattered sending its shards flying across the bed.

 _It is over, Kamen thought, __all I have ever tried to do is over. Meaning faded from him with consciousness as the light left his closing eyes. There was nothing left, for darkness had begun to win a loosing battle. It fought to draw both of the helpless forms into its chilling grasp forcing them to leave all hope behind. They fell to the earth, all breath torn from their chests._

But moon did not seem to care. It had turned its back on earth.

To be continued…


	4. Black Moon Shining

Chapter 3 – Black Moon Shining

_From the Annuls of Circe_

_Year of the Three Moons_

            _I fear this entry may be my last. Though I have tried again and again to keep my son away from me, my efforts have been in vain. I can feel that accursed demon drawing closer. He looks for me tirelessly and has already destroyed three galaxies in anger. Now I scribble these words furiously within the last shrine of mine that stands._

_            All my work seems undone. The Ultimate One still lies dormant. Curse fate! It has forced me to do this, to cry into the future. My mentors would frown upon this method of possession, but there is no other way._

_            Curse that demon! He is upon this planet. There is no time. I must do it now…_

~~~

            Darkness.

            Like a layer of filth it covered the city. None could escape its terrifying grasp, and none wanted to for they had all given up. The city had given up, daylight had given up, even the moon had given up. It watched silent now behind a blanket of shadow, the dark orb emanating an unquenchable doom. 

            "Robin, look at the moon!"

            "Robin, where's Raven?"

            "Robin, the energy signals."  The voices pounded into their leader. Everything had suddenly happened at once and he was left to fight the chaos.

            "Just BE QUIET!" the three remaining Titans were silent as they waited for instruction. "Cyborg, what did you say about energy signals?" Sweat was beginning to bead on his forehead.

            "It's the same frequency as the one in the subway, but it's so much more…powerful," Cyborg replied looking blankly at the viewing screen. 

            "But what about the moon?" Starfire said.

            "Will you just forget the moon?! Where's the energy coming from?" He had to stay focus. He had to keep the Titans focused. There were other voices in their heads growing louder each second trying to break their concentration. They fought to pull them into hopelessness.

            "Somewhere in the city. I don't know, it keeps breaking up," Cyborg said. 

            "Dude, I'm telling you," Beasboy said, "Raven's doing this, its gotta be one of her…"

            "Just…hold on Beastboy. We have to focus here." But he couldn't. The voices just made him want to curl up in a corner and die, but he couldn't give up, not to this.

            "Hold on, I'm getting something," Cyborg said. He turned a dial as crackling noises began to come from the speakers. Slowly, he honed in on a signal.

            "…I _repeat! …need an ambulance…_crrr_…38th and 12th! Thirty…on the … -nd unconscious, perhaps dead, cause unknown…" The three Titans looked at Robin waiting for anything to calm their fears._

            "We should wait for Raven," Cyborg said. Robin shook his head.

            "There's no time. Those people need us." He paused as if unsure of himself. Everything was beginning to feel very wrong. 

            "Titans GO!"

~~~

_Looked out my window last night_

_From my pillow, and I_

_Saw the willow weeping a casual sigh_

_The man in the moon looked rather_

_Sad and confused as if he'd_

_Become a mirror to my watery eyes_

~~~

            "Little Raven?" The voice echoed through her mind. What familiarity! Could it finally be her…?

            "Mother?"

            "Come, little Raven." The presence seemed so fragile as if it would shatter at any moment. Raven ran after it as fast as she could, forgetting emotions, forgetting her memories, forgetting everything. She would not let her mother go.

            "Mother! Don't leave me!" she cried. Far into the darkness, she could see her gown floating gently. Was that really her? Could it be? She ran faster not knowing where she was going. It felt as if the surrounding darkness urged her on.

            "Come here, little one!" her mother cooed. She had her arms opened in a warm embrace running full speed towards her daughter. Raven could not believe her eyes. Truly her mother seemed to be running there before her. As she was inches from her mother's arms, something stopped her. The smile and laughter faded from her lips. Looking at the running legs, she realized that her real mother could not walk.

            In fear, Raven turned and fled from the lie. Darkness caved in around her pushing her back towards her mother, but she would not let it. In a futile cry, she collapsed giving way to unconsciousness.

~~~

            _"Hey, Hardy!__ Come take a look at this!" The man speaking had his eye fixed on the ocular lens of a gigantic telescope. "_Gotham___ Observatory" was written on the side in bold letters._

_            "What?" came the reply, " I'm trying to call my wife."_

_            "Well tell her you're going to be late. You've gotta see this!" The scientist moved out of the way to let his colleague view the anomaly. He approached the telescope with a tired sigh and placed his eye firmly against the lens. _

_"What in the…?" The image he saw appeared to be the moon, but something strange covered it. It was like living shadow for it seemed to vibrate and move across the field of vision, a sight that made his insides wrench with fear. He tried to change to a stronger lens, but the image would only dissipate. "You sure the lenses are clean?"_

_            "I just checked. Pretty strange, huh? It's not even in the right equinox." He couldn't take his eye from the lens. It was as though the darkness was calling to him._

_            "Pretty strange…" _

~~~

            The four remaining Titans landed silently amid the dark street. No lights bore forth from the impenetrable darkness, not even stars. The scene they beheld was sickening. There was no wreckage, no sign of any battle whatsoever, only dead bodies. They littered the streets like forgotten trash tossed aside days ago.

            "Dude, this is pretty creepy," said Beastboy. The other three said nothing, but fear was plastered on their faces. They crept slowly along hearing only the sound of their footsteps.

            "A-are your scanners picking up anything, Cyborg?" Robin said in a cold sweat.

            "The energy is everywhere. It doesn't make sense." In a burst of flame the screen on his arm suddenly exploded. "This isn't right, Robin." 

            "Nothing is right," Starfire whispered remembering Kamen's words. They heard an ambulance begin to screech its way towards them finally responding to the call that they had heard hours ago. They were relieved to finally see a source of light as it barreled around a corner in a flash of sirens. 

But as it neared them, something happened that no one could explain. From an alley came what seemed like a mountain or wave of shadow billowing forth in a furry. Unable to react in time, the ambulance plowed into the dark monstrosity merely floating through it as if it were smoke. Suddenly the air was filled with screams as if the hearts of the men in the ambulance were being torn from their chests. The Titans watched unmoving as the speeding vehicle careened off the road and barreled into the side of a building exploding in flames.

When the four turned towards the shadow creature, it had disappeared altogether leaving no trace of its coming or going except the three dead EMT's lying in the wreckage of the ambulance.

~~~

_"No!" said the echoing voice. It bounced off dreams and empty thoughts. "This cannot be!"_

_            "We knew this would happen. You knew this would happen," came a vacant reply. The energy around them was beginning to fade as the light of the moon seemed doomed to never return. "Do not fear him. This battle has only just begun."_

_Got a stack of books so I could learn how to live_

~~~

_Raven…_

            Her mind struggled to regain consciousness. Slowly, pain mixed with thoughts filled her head. The voices throbbed through her echoing off of her broken emotions. She couldn't reach consciousness, not all the way. Something held her inches from reality. She fought hard to make the gap, but it was no use, her mind surged with pain.

            _Do not fight me, Raven_

Much to her surprise, her eyes began to open, inch by inch letting through more light. It hurt, but she had to look, she had to see. Her gaze was fixed on what seemed like the ground, but the pieces didn't make sense.

            _There…_

            "There, that's better," the voice said with sharp clarity. Raven's eyes suddenly darted up towards the speaker. She saw two figures before her but couldn't make out who or what they were.

            "I can't let you see too much, Raven. I might loose you," the voice said again. It seemed to be coming from the figure on the left, but she couldn't tell. Her thoughts weren't fitting together right. She was unable to focus her energy on anything as if some inhibiter was pouring forth an internal chaos.

            "I suppose I should allow you to at least see me." With those words the two figures suddenly came into perfect focus. The one on the left was a tall and rather beautiful woman wearing an ancient purple robe. She held herself with an elegant countenance almost like an empress. Her words were like honey, but Raven wouldn't let herself trust the woman. She did not trust anyone she could not feel mentally.

            The figure on the right angered her. It was Kamen, the curse that would not stop haunting her mind. He was crouched on the ground next to the woman and seemed to be shivering; his face tucked between his legs not daring see the light. The woman rubbed his back with a cold affection.

            As the figures came into view, a sharp pain shot through Raven's arms. They were sore and stiff as if they had been holding a large weight at bay. But her thoughts could not properly focus on the sensation. Everything was covered with fog.

            "It is a pity you rejected my earlier vision of your mother," the women said with a broad smile. "That truthfully would have been a happy life for you, but alas I got ahead of myself and forgot that my son crippled that mother of yours. So now you will have to see what I allow Kamen to see."

            "What are you talking about? Where am I?" Raven said. She felt dangerously helpless.

            "You don't recognize me? After all that trouble I went through to finally see you face to face, you don't recognize me? I'm hurt Raven, and so is Kamen." Her words did not make sense.

            "What do you want from me?"

            "Do you always have to ask so many questions? Can't you just enjoy the beauty of the moment? Ah…this truly is beautiful. I feel as if I have been waiting for this since the beginning of time." Raven was starting to grow angry, but all of her emotion seemed to focus itself on Kamen as if directed by a funnel.

            "Ah, but who am I? Surely you should see a familiarity in me. Take a good look." Raven scoured the woman's form slowly beginning to recognize the sharp features. Her sunken eyes, her pointed nose, all of it reminded her of… "That's it, do you see it now?"

            Raven's mind shook with disbelief, but she couldn't ignore this emotion. Not this time, she lacked the focus. Her lips trembled as she formed the words.

            "You're the one who…"

            "Come on, say it!" The air around them was deathly still as Raven forced the words out from her mouth.

            "…who summoned my father."

~~~

            _            "This is not a test. This is not a test. City disaster agency requests evacuation of all metropolitan areas due to an  internal emergency. Access to city will be locked down shortly by police and federal officers. Do not panic. Proceed with caution upon leaving, and do so at once. This is not a test. This is not a test…"_

~~~

            "What is happening?" was all that they could think. They searched for an answer on the outside having combed alleys and passageways, but their thoughts were distracted. Fear was holding back their concentration. This thing was intangible and indescribable. It was as if death walked through the silent streets of the city.

            "_This is not a test. This is not a test…" blasted the loudspeakers. Every time the message was repeated the Titans grimaced._

            "They're yelling that to deaf ears," Cyborg said. "This whole city is dead." The other three nodded unable to speak words. It felt true though the disaster had only spread along the internal blocks of the city. The surrounding areas had been abandoned by light and sound as the few left living cowered in fear beneath shadows. 

            "What's the plan now?" Beastboy whispered to Robin. The four had been creeping down Main Street for what seemed like hours.

            "…keep looking," he replied. His voice quivered with a growing fear. There was no plan any more. It was simply to await an eminent death. They continued to search fruitlessly along the empty street seeing only lifeless bodies tossed casually aside. A gust suddenly blew from a side street shooting forth a deathly chill.

            "What was that?" Starfire said with a gasp. The others jolted to look where the sound had come from expecting a sudden end to their search, but what they saw did not make sense. "Raven? Look! It is Raven!"

            Her shadowy form floated over the top of a building almost lifelessly. She made no response to Starfire's calls but only continued to float through the silent air. The Titans could faintly see her eyes shooting forth a white energy.

            "Thank goodness," Robin called out to her. "Do you have any idea what is going on?" But Raven didn't seem to hear him. She drifted out of sight behind a building without a word. "Wait a second, Raven," he said sprinting after her. The others followed in suite hoping that the discovery of their comrade would help answer their questions.

            They plunged into a dark alley forgetting a fear that had once choked their hope. Dodging trashcans and jumping fences, they ran just inches behind Raven. Having rounded a corner Robin suddenly stopped his pursuit. The sight before him made his eyes grow wide and caused a chill to course its way down his spine.

            In the open street stood a monster over five stories high sheathed in a blanket of gloom. Its form seemed darker than the very shadows that hung around it. It was as though it tried to hold a tangible form but continued to surge and change constantly unable to control the darkness it was made of.  However, one part of it remained constant; one part did not stretch and grown. Two unblinking eyes glowed orange with a pitiless light. They hung suspended in what looked like a head and searched the city for a new life to devour. 

            But the strangest part of the scene they beheld was Raven. She floated inches above the beast hands held out before her as if orchestrating the monster's actions. Her eyes glowed with the familiar white power, but there was something wrong with them. They were only a shell as if Raven had become a puppet in someone else's hands.

            "Raven?"

            "Those eyes…"

            "The moon!"

            The Titans stood frozen in the ground unable to make sense of what they saw. The huge figure loomed over them and began to draw closer threatening death, but their feet were anchored to the pavement. Just as the shadow was about to swallow them whole, the form of the beast rippled with a strange power and retreated a step backwards. Its eyes faded for a brief instant and looked as if its form had shrunk. But the moment passed and the beast turned away from the Titans to continue to scour the city for the living.

            "What have you done Raven?!" Robin screamed out but she would not respond. Turning away from her friends, she continued to hang at the shoulder of the shadow demon. As it stormed away it left behind the stench of death.

            Robin's fist began to clench tight in anger. Why had she not told them anything? Why did she always hide away from everyone? He couldn't let her roam the city to kill off everyone that was left, but he couldn't bring himself to fight her either. However, something was different. When he looked after her retreating figure he was sure that she was not truly real.

            "Titans," Robin said with a trembling voice, "…go!"

~~~

_            Many are left half read_

_            Covered by the cobwebs on my shelf_

_            Got a list of laws growing longer every day_

_            And if I keep plugging away_

_            Maybe one day I'll perfect myself_

_            Oh but all of my labor seems to be in vain_

_            And all of my laws just cause me more pain_

_            So I fall before the dead moon in all of my shame_

~~~

            "You summoned Trigon!" Raven screamed in vain. Her mind split with the power of the truth. The form of the woman before her now fit perfectly with a brief childhood memory. She had come only once to her house and her quiet planet, but it had been a momentous visit. She had argued for hours with her mother speaking in words that young Raven did not understand. Her mother had sent her to her room hoping to shelter her from the pain that this woman had brought their once peaceful family, but Raven had understood enough to blame her for her father.

            The woman shook her head almost apologetically.

            "That name…I still regret it. Yes you are right, I summoned that cursed demon. I did so for a son, ironically, but he was more dangerous than I could ever have imagined. I did not plan for him to destroy your home and your family."

            "You could care less for my family!"

            "A truth, I will admit it, but things happen. What I still don't understand is why he spared you." She looked to the ground letting her wild grin briefly fade. Raven wanted so much to storm after her and ring her neck if only to watch her choke and die, but her muscles would not obey her mind. The only part of her body she could feel were her arms. They continued to throb with pain that she could not understand.

            "I apologize, Raven, I have never been good with introductions. My name, if you've forgotten, is Circe, the legendary sorceress. I suppose if I summoned your father, then you could call me your grandmother."

            "You're a living hell!" she screamed. Tears of rage began to form at the corners of her eyes.

            "Such strong words! Your mother would be ashamed if she heard you now. Strange, though, I would bet you have never felt this much emotion since you came to earth." Circe's words stopped Raven's thoughts dead in their tracks. It was true. This strange illusion threw away all the emotional walls she had ever built for herself, something she had always feared. But instead of feeling in ways she had always longed to, Raven only felt anger. 

            "It is too bad your friend here does not act in the same unbridled way," Circe said looking down at the shivering form of Kamen. She continued to rub his back imitating a mother's affection. "You really crushed him, Raven. All he ever wanted to do was help, but you rejected him time and time again. Now look what he has been reduced to."

            Raven turned her focus on his pitiful form but when she did, a strange feeling erupted in her. It was as if a foreign power was driving hatred into her mind.

            "What does he have to do with anything?" Raven asked unwilling to let the emotion control her. 

            "He was the reason your father destroyed all that you once loved…"

            "That is a lie!" Raven burst out. "If you had not summoned him, I would have been free from pain."

            "Do not be so ignorant, Raven! If I had not summoned him, you would have never been born!" Circe sighed as she paced back and forth trying to think of the right words to tell Raven. "Trigon was a project for me, one that got out of hand. He was so filled with lust and had little regard for things of importance, but his strength was astounding." She turned her gaze back to Kamen. "Believe it or not, this little boy is what drove him insane.

            "He is not limited to just your lifetime, Raven. Kamen's physical existence began with me, not with you. I am the one he spoke briefly of, the one who named him, the one who manifested him for the first time. Yes, Kamen was also a project, but he was more than that, Raven. He has so much power that no one can understand, a power that I can only dream of. That is why I summoned him."

Circe paused briefly to watch her words soak into Raven's mind. Slowly, the cruel smile began to spread across her features. 

"That is why I told you to summon him."

~~~

            "It's no use!" Cyborg said panting hard. He ran furiously as a car crashed to the ground behind him. "We can't defeat it!" He looked behind him to see his other three teammates trying in vain to subdue the apparition. It reminded him of the battle that took place in the tower. Robin had his pole brandished, Starfire was firing useless star bolts, Beastboy circled as a ram looking for an open moment, and Raven stood behind watching with unseeing eyes.

            "We can't give up," Robin said knowing their efforts were useless. "It's heading for the residential section of the city. It could kill thousands!" The beast kept hurling anything it could touch at the Titans but would not allow its shadowy form to touch them. Everyone else the monster had enveloped and torn the life from their bodies, but something held it back from the Titans. It could only hope to crush them.

            Starfire leapt into the air hoping to strike one of the fierce orange eyes but only folded through the nebulous form as if she had fallen through smoke. "Just like Kamen…" she muttered to herself. "Those eyes are just like his mask…"

            As the monster approached a department store, televisions and other electronic devices came hurtling from the window drawn by a telekinetic power attempting to subdue the attackers. Robin and Cyborg tried to dodge them in time but each took an object to the chest falling to the ground. This battle was making them weary.

            "Hang in there, Titans," Robin said pushing plastic pieces of shrapnel off of his body.  He struggled to his feet and watched his other comrades also taking blows beginning to slow down. The black moon watched from the sky as hopelessness drew the strength from their bodies. 

            So many questions racked their brains. Why was Raven doing this? Why did this monster not steal their life? Nothing made sense, everything was cloaked with mystery the same way the city was cloaked with darkness.

            "We have to attack Raven!" Cyborg said firing a futile sonic blast into the anomaly. 

            "No!" Robin shouted. "We can't! Not yet, there has to be another way." He stopped his attack long enough to see the lights from apartment buildings and small suburban houses dotting the landscape just before the path of the monster. They were running out of time.

            "Robin, it is growing closer to those left alive," Starfire said. Her voice had lost its familiar ring of innocence. "I do not like it either, but there is no time." The truth of her words buried itself into their leader. 

            "I have sworn to protect this city," Robin murmured to itself. "I must do what it takes to protect this city. I am sorry, Raven." His voice quivered with anger. Fate had shown him no other way. Looking towards the other three he gave a simple and solitary nod allowing them to make a final attack.

~~~

            "I won't believe it," Raven gasped. There was no way she could lower herself to the level of summoning demons. She kept trying to understand, to see more but something kept holding her back. Her mind was no longer in her control.

            "Of course you won't. But that doesn't change the truth. You see, Raven, you have a weakness that is easy for someone like me to exploit. It is not your emotions, as you are probably thinking, not exactly. Rather, it is your hatred for them. Through all of your meditations, all of your séances, all of your efforts of hiding your emotion you have built up a dependence that you yourself will not admit to. Do you know what you are dependent on, Raven?"

            She made no response. Lowering her gaze, she starred into the ground. Tears began to well up in her eyes. 

            "What is that dependence, Raven!?" Circe yelled louder. The tears rolled off her cheeks and fell into darkness. She did not know where they fell; her mind would not let her see.

            "Have you completely given up? It is love, Raven! Affection, care, longing, infatuation even! The more you deprive yourself from these feelings the more you need them. You are human, Raven, completely and totally human. You can blame your mother for that curse. Those gifts you inherited from that father of yours do not mean that you are not human." 

            Each word Circe spoke caused Raven's eyes to harden. The tears still fell, but sorrow began to be forced from her breast by anger. The more truth she heard about herself only caused more rage to build up inside of her.

            "I rode your emotion and used the most powerful means possible to enter your mind. Do you know how I gained control over you? Surely you will not deny yourself that answer!"

            Raven reached for that maternal feeling she had felt only days ago, but every time she grasped for it, the emotions pointed to the woman that stood before her. Through tears, her lips slowly formed words, "You used my mother…"

            "Yes! Your poor, pitiful mother! Ever since that day she perished beneath Trigon's rage you've held those memories most dear. You are no different from her, Raven! You are just as pitiful! All I had to do was disguise myself as your mother within your mind to pull you into my hands. It was easy to delude you to thinking that your mother was behind the gate that held Kamen with his realm. Possession may be low, but I had no choice. Your father left me no choice.

"Don't you see, Raven? My plan is perfect! Kamen has been transformed into his Ultimate Form giving me complete and total power over this pitiful physical realm. Every life that Kamen takes adds to my growing power. I am the angle of death now! I hold the keys to who lives and who dies!"

"You're insane," Raven said feeling the rage well up inside of her. But as hard as she tried, she couldn't focus the emotion. That foreign presence held her mind at bay, and her rage was scattered throughout the empty air. All she knew was that her arms were continuing to hurt more and more as each second dragged on.

"Even now you can't hate me because I still bear the mark of your mother. This is where you will stay; your mind and your body will remain under my power. Here with this broken form of Kamen you will stay."

At the mention of the boy's name, Raven's eyes rose from the ground to stare into him. The restraint on her emotion suddenly lifted and her anger and rage rushed forth onto the boy. Circe's smile grew hideously large as she felt Raven's focus boring down onto Kamen. "That's it, Raven. Hate him with all that you are." The more she focused her unbridled emotion on Kamen, the more he quaked in pain. Her mind may have been restricted to this limited viewpoint, but nothing was holding back her emotions.

            As her anger and her hatred reached a climax, Kamen raised his head slightly from the ground and looked back at Raven. One of his pale eyes caught her mid glare and asked without words, "Why?" Over and over again the question repeated itself within Raven's anger challenging the root of her emotions.  

            Circe's grin suddenly left her face. She felt Raven slipping through her fingers as her deadly emotion began to subside.

            "No! I will not loose you now! I have waited too long!" Circe began to storm towards her, the purple robe flapping from behind. "Kamen is all you have ever hated, Raven! Kamen is your pain! Kamen is your weakness! You must hate him, you have no other choice!" 

Right as Circe's hand was about to grip Raven's neck, the illusion before her eyes suddenly split in two. She saw before her the other four Titans fighting in vain against her. She felt her arms throwing objects without her control. She fought with all of her might to grab a hold of this fleeting glimpse of reality. But the darkness surged through her mind and forced emotion into her thoughts.

"Hate him!" Circe yelled, her eyes radiating with a deadly energy. "Hate him!"

~~~

            "I don't want to do this, Raven," Beastboy said transforming into a hawk with razor talons. He rose up into the air and poised himself for a dive into his teammate. Inside he hoped she would stop, but he had no choice. Circling he folded his wings in and felt the air rush past as he hurtled headlong into her, but just as he his talons were about to knock her from the air, Raven's eyes met with his. They lost all of their white rage and looked deep into Beastboy as if she too had lost all hope. 

"Help me…" she whispered into the air. In a burst of power, the monster drew Raven in as if afraid to loose her while Beastboy soared past where she should have been. On the other side of the beast, her eyes again glossed over with unknown power having returned to her lifeless state. Gripping Beastboy with telekinesis, she hurled him across the street to crash into the side of a parked van.

            The Titans stared in shock at Raven watching her make an outright attack against them. She made no sound, spoke no words, but hung there in the air behind her shadow monstrosity with an alien grin across her face. They had never seen such a cruel smile pressed on her features. As Beastboy struggled to his feet, a reality began to settle in each of the Titans minds. The battle was near to having been lost, and they were now forced to be spectators to a merciless slaughter.

~~~

            _Help me! _

            The words had just faded from her lips as Raven's consciousness was returned to its imprisoned state. The anger, fear, and pain rushed back into her field of vision as she saw Circe standing inches from her with unbelieving eyes. Her lips struggled to form words but made no complete sound. Knowing no alternative, they both quickly turned to see Kamen on the ground no longer quaking and shivering. From his crouched position he looked back at both of them with his pale eyes. Though they were as lifeless as before, there was a light behind them that danced with victory. Slowly he rose from the ground not breaking his vexing stare for an instant.

            "What are you doing?" Circe asked as the boy stretched himself to his full height. One step in front of the other, he began to advance towards the two women. "Why are you not shivering? You are hated! Return to the dust!" Kamen reached beneath his cloak and pulled out the mask planting it firmly on his face. The two orange eyes glowed with a brilliant flame.

            "I am compelled to obey her order," Kamen said silently with an inhuman voice. Raven suddenly realized the power of the two words she had spoken earlier.

"You are compelled to obey no order but mine! You are both under my control!" Circe yelled, but her voice did not hold the forcefulness it had before. He grew closer, each step replacing Raven's anger with fear. 

            "The one who summoned me has given me an order. I am compelled to obey her order." He was inches from Raven's face, the mask so close that she could see each woven grain of the wood. Kamen lifted his bodiless hands and placed them upon her arms. For the first time, his form did not sift through Raven's flesh.

            "This is impossible! How can you do this!" Circe screamed. She felt her power and control leave as Raven's mind began to awaken. Kamen's grip seemed to cause Raven's eyes to open completely, and a fog lifted from her thoughts. Before her rose the same huge oaken door that she had stood in front of only days ago. Her hands were clutching the iron fittings with an unknown strength as her arms barely held the door open. The seal was cracked just enough to cause darkness to surge from the opening into her surroundings. This was why her arms had been screaming in pain. The effort to hold open the door had been breaking them.

            "Let go, Raven," Kamen said with a horse voice. "You must let go." She felt his grip tighten around her arms as he fought to pull her away from the door. The darkness fought against Kamen's grasp trying to tear his hands from her arms. Her mind felt as though it would split in two as her consciousness strained between the opposing forces.

            "Hate him, Raven! Hate him!" Circe's voice echoed. It was fading fast as Raven was being awakened to the true state of her mind. Voices all around her yelled and screamed, the shadows pressing in on them. The power of emotion threatened to crush all she was beneath its weight. 

Circe ran forth in an attempt to subdue them one last time. Grasping hold of Kamen's mask, she tore it from his face. "Do not trust Kamen; do not trust what you see! He is only an illusion!" That last word caused something deep inside of Raven to snap in half leaving her mind feeling as though it had been freed from a vice.

            "No, Circe!" Raven screamed against the voices and darkness. Her penetrating yell caused everything to suddenly fall to silence. She looked deep into Kamen's hands that still gripped her arms. "You are the illusion!"

            In a blur of light and power, Raven released her grip from the cast iron of the door. Her arms were shoved against her chest as the door came slamming shut, the sound resounding throughout the chasm of her mind. The door faded, the pain faded, the darkness all faded leaving Raven to plummet into unconsciousness. 

Slowly she fell leaving all illusions behind.

~~~

_You can't find the answers 'till you learn to question_

_Don't want to appear stupid then ask for direction_

_You're insecure and it clouds your perception_

_So stop and listen and learn a lesson_

_In love without condition_

~~~

            "A drop into an endless sea."

            Raven tried to focus and meditate, but thoughts distracted her. Emotions distracted her, but they did not trouble her mind as they had in the past. This night she would let her focus be broken. Slowly, she opened her eyes and starred into the ground beneath her. She was perched atop the Titan Tower beneath the light of the crescent moon. The waves played beautifully with the moonlight, but Raven did watch the scenery as others would have. She was content with starring into nothing as her thoughts drifted like the wind that tossed her hair.

            Only a ribbon of the moon shone now, a thin crescent casting its reflective light across the city. Something was pleasant in that moon, something fresh. With the shining of the new moon came the unveiling of mysteries that had clouded the lives of the Titans for the past week. 

            Whatever that shadow beast was, it had faded with the coming of the crescent moon. Moonlight had shattered the darkness and opened up hope for their city once again. The actual death toll had been much less than they had expected. When the Titans fought the apparition, it had seemed as though dead bodies clogged all of the streets, but actually the only ones struck down had been the EMT's and a few others crushed by pieces of building or shrapnel. Specialists had called the incident an "unknown epidemic" while only a handful understood the true story.

Kamen had also disappeared as the new moon had risen. Starfire constantly talked about him and how kind he had been to all of them, but no one else spoke of the boy. He was merely been a shadow that had drifted across their lives like a fading memory leaving little in its wake except a passing darkness. 

            Raven had hoped to see him again and apologize for the inhuman emotions she used against him during the illusion. But instead she sat alone on the tower letting the past wash over her like the waves that lapped across the shore. It was nice to let go for once and allow her mind to drift. Peace, that was what she felt now, a pure and complete peace.

            "What a moon…" murmured a voice, but it was not hers. Turning, her eyes met the form of Kamen sitting beside her. He appeared silently and unexpectedly, the way he had always done. Raven did not know what to say or do now that he had shown up one last time. She felt shame for what she had said and done, but did not know how to express it. Instead of apologizing, she followed his gaze to rest her eyes upon the crescent moon that hung new in the sky.

            "Are you real?" she said after a few moments of silence. Kamen's eyes did not drift from the moon for a second.

            "What is real?" he replied. Raven was tempted to smile at his reply having realized the irony in her question. The wind shot forth an icy gust that caused both of their cloaks to fluttery wildly in the moving air.

            "I cannot change the past," Raven said looking downwards once again. "I cannot change what was said and done." She wanted to apologize, but it was difficult to conquer her pride.

"It is alright," Kamen said with the same pitiful, raspy voice. "You do not have to explain. It was a powerful illusion." Raven nodded several times accepting his humble form of forgiveness. "Did you tell them the truth?" Again Raven only nodded in reply to his question. Robin had forced the story about Circe from Raven, but she was brief and did not go into explicit detail about her encounter. She had only told enough to understand why and had not revealed the humility it took to accept victory.

            Kamen rose to his feet and leaned on his withered staff. Step by step, he limped away from Raven leaving her to enjoy the moonlight.

            "Will you return to your…home?" Raven searched her mind for the right words. Kamen stopped his retreat and returned his gaze to the new moon.

            "I cannot return this time," he said barely loud enough for her to hear. As he continued his steady walk for the door, his form began to recede into the shadows, his body fading into wisps of lifeless smoke. "You closed the door."

            Raven thought she heard the clank of his staff continue into the night, but he had altogether disappeared leaving her to wonder if Kamen had been merely a figment of her imagination. As the apparition became only a memory, Raven looked up once again at the moon. Its beauty and power struck her for the first time having finally understood why so many starred longingly at it. She allowed a smile to slowly draw across her thin lips as she watched the black moon fade with a new light.


End file.
